EU Proposes "Blue Card" for migrant workers

By IBT Staff Reporter On 10/23/07 AT 10:11 PM

This Tuesday, European Commission executive Franco Frattini proposed to create a "blue card" for the Union that would allow skilled labor from abroad to enter and settle in the member states easier than currently.

Systems in use across the European nation are still posing barriers and hurdles for immigrants willing to work, and at the same time the economy is demanding a more qualified workforce, especially in the areas of technology and health care.

But to become official policy, the plan has to receive agreement from all EU states. Several countries, such as Germany, are not interested to have the EU dictate their immigration policies.

Two responsible politicians of Germany's ruling party, Hans-Peter Uhl and Reinhard Grindel already voiced their objection, calling to keep the current procedure.

The institute for German economy calculated, that a lack of skilled labor imposed costs of 18.6 billion euros on the nation last year, slowing down gross domestic income growth by some 0.8 percent.

Industry representatives are calling for action to pave the way to allow hiring of more immigrant workers, filling the empty positions of thriving companies. Information technology association Bitkom applauded the EU proposal, announcing that software companies are urgently looking for ten thousands of new workers.

European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said, that other countries, especially the USA, Canada and Australia are much more attractive for immigrants than the EU, resulting in a four times higher gain of young workers from abroad. Many nations within the EU face the same problem of aging populations.